A Fine Summer's Day
by brigid1318
Summary: A one-shot of Hank, Zoey and their kids enjoying a picnic. Human or mutant, all of the McCoy children are deeply loved. By reader request, for those who wanted more of the McCoy kids.


_Author's note: I had a dream about this one shot of Hank, Zoey and their kids. I know some people were asking for more with the kids, so here's something! They're a little bit older in this one, but still relatively young. This is pretty fluffy, so I hope you guys enjoy. :-)_

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**A Fine Summer's Day**

It was a beautiful early summer day in Westchester County, and the little family was enjoying it to the fullest.

The father and twin sons were currently occupied with climbing one of the blossoming magnolia trees in the front yard- ostensibly for the purpose of gathering tree beetles for a science experiment.

That goal had long since been forgotten, though, in the course of the lovely afternoon. Father and sons had devolved into using their dexterous hand-feet and superhuman jumping abilities to swing from branch to branch for the mere thrill of it.

Meanwhile, the mother and daughter sat at the base of the tree on a picnic blanket, laughing as their boys showered them with flowers.

"Hank! Boys!" Zoey called. "Come eat something!"

Hank jumped down easily, landing cat-like on his hand-feet and brushing pollen from his azure blue fur. He smiled at his wife and plopped down on the blanket next to her.

"Sandwiches?" he joked.

Zoey scrunched up her nose in distaste. "You know I never want to see a sandwich again," she laughed. "I had enough white bread to last me a lifetime when I was pregnant. We're having fried chicken and potato salad."

Hank chuckled and kissed her on the cheek.

"Willy! Eddy!" Soleil imperiously called up to her older brothers, who were tarrying in the tree. "Come down here!"

The eleven-year-old twins hopped down to one of the lower branches and swung upside down, gripping the limb with their feet as they dangled like identical blue-haired bats.

"Or what?" Edward teased, while his twin impudently stuck his tongue out at their baby sister.

And then they both laughed and dropped handfuls of magnolia blossoms on Soleil's head.

"Boys," Hank admonished as his daughter pouted. "Apologize to your sister. She's just trying to help you."

Their father, though a seemingly-frightful muscle-bound behemoth of a man (complete with claws and fangs), wasn't much of a disciplinarian thanks to his gentle nature.

Therefore it wasn't his reproach that made the boys quickly apologize- it was the pointed, green-eyed glare their mother silently leveled at them from her spot snuggled under their father's arm that did the trick.

"Sorry, Ley-Ley," Edward said, immediately contrite.

"Sorry, Sissy," William echoed. "But now you look like a fairy princess with the flowers in your hair!"

Soleil looked slightly mollified. "It's ok."

The boys exchanged glances for a moment before Edward leaned over and whispered something to his twin. William nodded his agreement.

"We're not hungry right now," Edward announced. "We'll be back."

And the two of them hopped down to the ground and ran off towards the back yard.

"What were they whispering about?" Zoey wondered aloud, glancing up at her husband. With his sensitive ears he was sure to have heard.

Hank grinned mischievously. "You'll see."

Since the boys were otherwise occupied, the parents and remaining child turned to their lunch. After a few minutes, though, Hank noticed that Soleil was frowning down at her potato salad like it had personally wronged her.

"What's wrong, honey?" he asked. "You ok?"

Soleil didn't answer immediately, though her ears turned red in distress. Her parents waited her out, hoping she would share whatever was bothering her.

"Am I adopted?" she finally blurted out, her pretty little face very troubled as she met their eyes with hers.

Hank and Zoey exchanged alarmed glances, obviously wondering how to reply.

It was something they feared would have to be addressed sooner or later. Their very intelligent eight year old daughter was bound to wonder why she was the only one without any strange abilities in her family, no matter how much they tried to gloss over that fact. She was human, surrounded by a bunch of mutants. No matter how hard they tried, they worried alienation was inevitable.

"Of course you're not," Hank replied cheerfully. "I was there when you came out of Mommy's tummy. You're definitely a piece of both of us."

"Why do you ask, Soleil?" Zoey asked gently.

"I don't have any powers," she mumbled miserably. "Not like you or Daddy or Willy and Eddy. I don't even _look_ like any of you."

"You've got my eyes," Zoey argued gently. "Actually, you look a lot like your daddy before-"

She glanced at Hank, asking the question with her eyes. He nodded and shifted slightly, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.

The picture he pulled out and carefully handed to his daughter was from their wedding, over fifteen years before.

Soleil frowned, looking at the tiny photograph. She recognized her mother immediately, but the man next to her was a stranger. A stranger with the same hair color as her, and the same funny eyebrows...

"Who's that?"

"That's your dad," Zoey replied simply.

"Soleil, you don't have powers because you're human," Hank explained, taking note of her confusion. "It's all just genetics, honey. To your mother and I, you're _perfect_ just the way you are. I used to look like that-"

He gestured towards the picture.

"But I never thought I was good enough for anyone and tried to change who I was. I had an accident and ended up like this instead," he continued, pointing to himself. "It took me a _long_ time to realize that I'm good enough, just being me."

"Really?"

Hank nodded. "Mommy and I never want you to feel like you don't belong in this family, ok?"

"You could have green hair and red eyes and you'd still be our baby girl," Zoey declared. "We wouldn't change anything about you for the world. And we want you to love yourself for who you are, too."

Soleil gave them a tentative smile.

Neither parent was fooled into thinking this would be the last time they had this conversation with her, just as they'd already had to speak to their sons about being mutants a few times.

It was human nature to want to belong. Hank and Zoey could only assure their children that they _did _belong, no matter how many times they had to repeat themselves until it stuck.

Just then William and Edward came running back from the other side of the house. As they got closer it became obvious that each of them was carrying several necklaces made of daisies.

"What's this?" Zoey laughed when the boys reached the rest of the family.

"A necklace for everybody," William announced.

He carefully put a necklace on his mother, while Edward did the same to Hank. Each twin was already wearing one of their own.

"And then we made a necklace _and_ a crown for Sissy," Edward explained.

Soleil beamed at her brothers, who put the flower crown on her head with great ceremony. She loved it when they included her like that.

"Come on, Ley-Ley," William said, pulling her to her feet. "Let's go throw rocks in the pond."

And each boy took their sister by the hand and ran off, making the effort to match their pace with her shorter, human legs as they went to do an activity they could all enjoy together.

"Make sure you don't hit any birds!" Hank called after them. "And don't fall in!"

He grinned down at his wife as she snuggled against his side.

"Our kids are pretty great," he observed, kissing her temple.

"Hmm, yes," she agreed. "I think we've done an ok job so far."

They both laughed at the joke, which they both rather hoped was true.

Then Zoey turned her face up for another kiss, which Hank gladly gave her. "I love you, Hank."

"I love you, Zoey," he replied, holding her close.

And together they sat back and watched their children play, enjoying the warm summer sun.


End file.
